Seversky

Seversky's method of assigning c/ns was at best enigmatic and illogical, especially to outsidersc/n 1 shows up two years after c/n 301, and 301 changed to c/n 35 for one modification, there were found two c/n 2s, and curious large gaps between numbers. All that has caused much head-scratching among researchers, and we have no answers if you happen to have questions.

2PA-202, 2PA-BX 1938 = 2pClwM rg; 1200hp P&W P-1830-S1C Wasp; ff: 10/23/38 (p: Frank Sinclair). European demonstrator; data similar to EP1-68. POP: 1 [NX2586] c/n 146.Seversky 2PA-A [NX1307] (Frank Rezich coll)2PA-A 1937 = 2pClwMAm; 1000hp Wright R-1820-G5 Cyclone. POP: 1 [NX1307] c/n 142; to USSR in 1938 for use in Spain. SEE ALSO 2PA-L.Seversky 2PA-BX [NX2586] (WASM)2PA-B, -BX aka SEV-1-68 1938 = Similar to 2PA-A. POP: 20 2PA-B exported to Japan, and 2 as -BX European demonstrators [NX2586/2587], which brought a substantial order from Sweden.Seversky 2PA-B3 Export to Japan (Frank Rezich coll)2PA-B3 1938 = POP: 20 were exported to Japan as A8V1 convoy fighters, c/ns 122/141. Found US regs were [X1321=JBAAN] c/n 126, [NX1391] c/n 64-1, [NX1388] c/n 64-2 and [NXx] c/n 64-3, which flew to the West Coast for overseas shipment and left no tracks. The "64-" c/ns seen in some reports likely were Japanese registations.2PA-L 1937 = 2pClwM rg; 1000hp Wright R-1820-G7; span: 41'0" length: 30'5" v: 250; ff: 11/2/37 (p: C H Miller). POP: 1, unregistered, from SEV-X-BT components as a potential military export. Refitted with 850hp R-1820-G2, it was sold to the USSR in 1938 with a license to manufacture more, which they didn't, and it ended up in the Spanish Civil War. Actually, 2 Severskys were sold to Russia, the 2PA-L and the amphibian 2PA-A [NX1307]. The former is possibly the one mentioned in the book, Sever the Sky: "... c/n 144; SEV-2PA-L; believed sold to Russia for use in Spain." There is a picture of it in L'Album du Fanatique de l'Aviation showing a single "R" on the fin, as if they hadn't had time to paint the numbers ... perhaps the enigmatic "c/n R" can be thusly explained? There are rumors of a third Seversky sold to Russia. Sever the Sky has this questionable note: "1938; c/n 143; SEV-2PA-L; [R189M]; 2-place Convoy Fighter. Sold Russia, saw service in Spanish Civil War on Republican side." As they say, it's a can of worms.Seversky AP-1 [NR1390] (WASM)AP-1 1937 = Rejected P-35 [36-354] refitted with 750hp P&W R-1830; span: 36'0" length: 25'4" v: 277; ff: 5/4/37 (p: (A de Seversky). Alexander Kartveli. POP: 1 prototype for Wright Field and NACA testing [X/NR1390] c/n 44; used as a company demo, it was destroyed in a 1938 hangar fire.AP-2 1937 = 1pClwM rg. POP: 1 experimental pursuit design from SEV-1XP [X/R1250] c/n 39 (?>c/n 40), crash-landed prior to Nationals.AP-4 1938 = 1pClwM rg; 1100hp P&W turbocharged R-1830-SC Twin Wasp; span: 36'0" length:28'6" load: 1570# v: 351/x/78 range: 800-1300; ff: 12/22/38 (p: Frank Sinclair). Inward-retracting gear. POP: 1 [NX2597] c/n 144 for Wright Field pursuit trials (lost out to Curtiss XP-40); 13 to AAF as YP-43.Seversky AP-7 [NX1384] with original gearSeversky AP-7A [NX1384], early 1940 (William T Larkins)AP-7, -7A 1937 = 1pClwM rg; 950hp P&W Twin Wasp; span: 36'0" length: 25'0". POP: 1 Nationals racer for Jacqueline Cochran [NX1384] c/n 145; won 1938 Bendix trophy. Modified as AP-7A in 1939 with an inward-folding gear; set speed record of 322mph (p: Cochran). Withdrew from the Nationals with mechanical problems. Generally thought to have been destroyed in a hangar fire in Tampa FL, but one account claims it was sold to Ecuador for $40,000 in 1941, another says.AP-9 1937 = Sister ship to AP-7 for pursuit trials. POP: 1 [NX2598] c/n 148 c/n 148; to Dominican Republic late 1940.Seversky BT-8 (Wright Field via Dan Shumaker coll)BT-8 1934 = Basic trainer. 2pClwM; 450hp P&W R-985; span: 36'0" length: 24'4" load: 1033# v: 175. AAC's first monoplane trainer was based on SEV-3XAR, with faired landing gear. POP: 30.EP1-68 1938 = 1pClwM rg; 1200hp P&W P-1830-S1C Wasp; span: 36'0" length: 26'10" v: 290. POP: 1 [NX2587] c/n 147; European demonstrator, but sold to Ecuador AF in 1941.Seversky EP-106 Swedish tester (Frank Tallman coll)EP-106 1940 = P-35A export model with 1050hp P&W R-1830-45 for Sweden. POP: 160, 60 of which were impressed by USAAF in 1940. Design evolved into Republic P-43 and -47.Seversky "F-1" ? (Frank Rezich coll)F-1 c.1937 = 2pClwM rg; data needed.Howard Levy published a photo of this plane in AAHS Journal 3/4 (1958). apparently parked in the same location at the same time of day with both cockpits open, but at a slightly different angle with right aileron deflected upward. He identified it as Seversky 2PA-B3 and pointed out, without explanation, the F-1 marking on the fin. That, plus Aerofiles' description of the 2PA-B3, means it must have been one of the 20 exported in 1938 as the A8V-1 (Type S Two-seat Fighter) in Japanese service. Engine is Wright R-1820. This is corroborated by info and a photo in Francillon's Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War (1988) and by Wagner's American Combat Planes (1982). Wagner shows a photo of Seversky 2PA-L that was sold to USSR and looks very similar to the 2PA-B3 (and does not seem to have the F-1 marking). ( Jack Erickson 7/17/04)
FN-1 SEE Naval Aircraft Factory.NF-1 1937 = 1pClwM rg; 950hp Wright R-1820-22 Cyclone; span: 36'0" length: 25'2" v: 267/x/69 ceiling: 30,700'; ff: 5/3/37 (p: C H Miller). A private venture, essentially a P-35 with a Cyclone instead of P&W R-1830, arrestor hook, bomb racks, and AP-1's rearward-retracting gear. POP: 1 [NX1254], to USN in Sep 1937 for testingreported as not receiving an assigned s/n or official designation, although the mystery NAF-Seversky FN-1 (SEE previous entry) is on some USN records as [A8978]. It proved to be not much faster than that of the Grumman F3Fs that it was meant to replace, and development was cancelled.The designation was de Seversky's own for "Naval Fighter One." There is a USN photo of NF-1 in both Wagner's American Combat Planes (1982) and AAHS Journal 3/1 (1958). ( Jack Erickson 7/17/04)Seversky P-35 line-up (K O Eckland coll)P-35 (EP-106) - Contracted SEV-1XP. 1pClwM rg; 1050hp P&W R-1830; span: 36'0" length: 26'10" load: 2148# v: 290/260/x range: 950.

Since de Seversky had made somewhat of a pariah of himself in the USA by selling combat aircraft to Japan, the Army ordered no more P-35s from Seversky. He had always been a better pilot than a businessman and, by early 1939, his company had gotten itself into some deep financial doo-doo. In Apr 1939, while de Seversky was out of the country on a business trip, the board of directors of his company voted him out of office as CEO and changed the name of the company to Republic. The newly-formed company then recapitalized itself and Alexander Kartveli was appointed as vice president and technical director. Having been forced into involuntary early retirement, de Seversky spent the rest of his life writing and consulting, and Kartveli and the Republic company went on to design and produce the famed P-47 Thunderbolt. ( Joe Baugher)